In America, it’s innocent until proven guilty. In the sportsbook industry, it’s guilty until proven innocent.

Since bettors have been burned so many times but untrustworthy shops, new kids on the block don’t get trust – they have to earn.

BetPhoenix.com is one of the newer shops around and while they don’t have the tenure as some of the veterans in the industry, they are quickly building up their brand name in a very positive way.

They have very good customer service, enticing deposit bonuses, low juice options, a chic website and fast payouts. That’s not to say they haven’t had speed bumps along the journey but when they’ve had them, they have stepped up to the plate, taken responsibility and found solutions.

BetPhoenix is new but they have earned our trust, which is rarely said for many of the newer shops.

1. Who Bets Here

BetPhoenix has a fairly even mix so far as the recreational players are getting involved because of the bonus structure and the sharper players have taken notice of the lower juice.

This probably won’t be the home of old school pros as the website may be a little too busy for them but new school bettors – sharp and public – will find pretty much everything they need here.

Depositing
Credit Card
Western Union (fees covered on deposits $300 or more)
Money Gram (fees covered on deposits $300 or more)
Bank Wire (fees 5% of total deposit amount)
Cashier’s Cheque

Withdrawing
Money Gram (fees $19 - $65; max $850)
Bank Wire (fees 5% of total deposit amount; min $2000 - $10,000)
Courier Cheque (one free per calendar month)

2. Customer Service

BetPhoenix may not have the brand name as some of the other big shops because they are young but you have to give them credit for their customer service. In time, that is will be one of the key contributing factors in building their company into a powerhouse.

Beyond the fact that their customer service reps are polite and knowledgeable, you have to love the fact that this sportsbook takes responsibility for its actions. When something is wrong on their end – such as when their site was down because of a change in servers – players who were trying to bet at that time online were rewarded with free plays over the phone. More importantly, their reps didn’t try to bullshit the situation and rather owned up to it. They even had their live chat staff taking bets.

This may be small example to some but to us, it shows that the sportsbook is willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to provide service. In an industry where a rep might give you a phony excuse for a delayed payout or where you might get the runaround as to why your bet limit has dropped, it’s nice to know that BetPhoenix will play it straight.

Methods of Contact
Phone
E-mail
Live chat

3. Placing A Bet

As nice as BetPhoenix looks on the outside, it is the good ‘ol barebones checkboxes on the inside.

Once you login, you’ll find your presented with the old school checkboxes system. For many bettors, this system is tried, tested and true. For a few new school bettors, they’ll probably wonder why such a nice site has such a frill-less betting engine.

Nonetheless, as all bettors that have used this system know, this is a quick little engine. When you login, you’ll be presented with the sports to bet and the options bet the types above it. Just click, select, enter a wager amount and confirm.

To be fair, while the checkbox system isn’t exactly new wave, it is widely used by many sportsbooks. It’s just not so appealing from an aesthetic perspective.

Methods of Betting
Internet
Phone
Live Chat

4. Variety

The variety at BetPhoenix is right about what you would expect from a good book. They have their majors covered fairly well, they have the fringe sports and they also have some live betting.

If you’re looking for entertainment odds on movie openings and who will win Grammy’s, you are probably at the wrong place. But for 95% of the betting public, you won’t be missing much here.

They do offer live betting but it is limited to major events – usually televised games.

Limits
NFL Games: $5,000
NBA Games: $5,000
NHL Games: $5,000
MLB Games: $5,000

5. VIP Program/Loyalty Program

BetPhoenix does not offer a VIP or loyalty program at this time.

6. Bonus & Rebate Program

BetPhoenix is on top of their game when it comes to bonuses. If you like options, you’ll like depositing here. Their bonuses are structure on a growing pay scale, which means the more you deposit the bigger bonus you get.

The lone exception is the smallest deposit amount. If you put in between $100 and $200, you’ll get 100% free play bonus.

For the rest, here are the deposit ranges and the bonuses attached:

$300 – $499 = 20% (max $100)
$500 - $999 = 25% (max $250)
$1000 - $1999 = 35% (max $700)
$2000 - $2499 = 45% (max $700)
$2500+ = 50% (max $1500)

Keep in mind that you have a six times rollover with all of these except for the 100% bonus, which has to be rolled over eight times.

You do have another option, which is quite dandy. You can also take a low juice account and in that case, you’re juice is dropped to -105 on all sports and here are the deposit ranges and bonuses.

$300 - $499 = 10% $500+ = 15% (max $500)

Keep in mind that there are max amounts in each of these ranges and the rollovers are a bit higher than you see normally.

Overall, though, this is a great bonus structure. We’d prefer cash instead of free plays but the fact that you get a bigger bonus with bigger deposit amounts and the fact that you have a low juice choice really gives you the option and customization. Few sportsbooks can match this.

7. Website & Usability

In an industry where sportsbook home pages look like a worn down Susan Sarandon, you’ll quickly notice that BetPhoenix’s main page looks like a crisp Kristin Bell.

When you visit their home page, you’ll notice they are one of the few shops to use real athletes and real logos in their images. It may not mean much in the grand scheme of things but for appearances alone, it looks significantly better.

Aside from that, it’s clear that they keep their site current. Their main media rotator is updated regularly with upcoming promos, event specific images and cool bonuses. They’ll even use their main page to communicate messages to their customers, such as when they were having recent ISP issues.

Beyond that, you get a good dose of content from BetPhoenix with some decent headlines and news stories, and you get a “Sports Edge” section with handicapping content from some guy named Dan the Man. Whether or not he picks winners, at least he keeps the site fresh.

Overall, you get the feel like BetPhoenix is on top of their game. They aren’t just a place that takes your action but they are in touch with the same things you are, they stay current and they offer you more of an experience than just a place to bet and leave.

They get straight A’s for their site.